Structure – Sefer Bemidbar/0

Structural Analysis – Sefer Bemidbar
"From the Generation of the Wilderness to the Generation Which Entered Israel"

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Boundaries of the Book

• Names – Rabbinic sources¹ refer to the book as "חומש הפקודים", referring to the two censuses that frame the book: the census of the second year, discussed in Chapters 1-4 and that in the fortieth year, discussed in Chapter 26. The book is also known as "ספר בְּמִדְבַּר"‎² or "ספר וַיְדַבֵּר",‎³ after the opening words of the book. The two names,  capture much of the essence of the book, the preparation for entry into the land at both th ebeginning and end of teh book and the 38 years in the Wilderness described in the middle.
• Themes – Sefer Devarim is distinct from previous books of the Torah in that it is consists almost entirely of Moshe's various speeches before his death. The book contains very little new narrative, as Moshe instead reviews past history and concentrates on reinforcing the nation's relationship with Hashem and preparing them for their future in the Land of Israel.
• Setting – In contrast to Sefer Bemidbar, the events of which occur in multiple sites throughout the wilderness, all of Sefer Devarim takes place in a single location, the plains of Moav.
• Timing – While most of the earlier books of the Torah5 span many years (from the thousands of years of Sefer Bereshit to the almost four decades of Sefer Bemidbar), the vast majority of Sefer Devarim6 transpires over a period of, at most, five weeks.7
• Characters – The main characters of Sefer Devarim, like those of the books of Shemot, Vayikra, and Bemidbar, are Moshe and the nation.8 However, while the Israelites of earlier books were the generation that left Egypt (דור יוצאי מצרים), in Devarim they are already the next generation, דור באי הארץ. In addition, while the Israelites are active characters in these earlier books, they are mainly passive in Sefer Devarim.
• Genre – Sefer Devarim is distinct from the rest of Torah in that it is written almost entirely in first person, thus presenting to us the perspective of Moshe.9 This reflects its distinct genre: a series of farewell addresses.
• Law and narrative – Similar to Shemot and Bemidbar, Sefer Devarim contains both narrative and legal material. However, the proportions of each subject are reversed. While the majority of the other books is narrative, Devarim is mainly prescriptive in nature.

¹ See, for example, Mishna SotahSotah 7:7About the Mishna, Mishna MenachotMenachot 4:3About the Mishna, Sifre Devarim16:1About Sifre Devarim and elsewhere. See also EusebiusEusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica 6:25:1-2 who cites Origen as writing that this was the name used by the Jews. [It is interesting to note that Origen reports that the other four books of Torah are referred to by the Jews using the opening words of each book and not by a name which imparts content (Bereshit rather than Genesis, Shemot rather than Exodus etc.).  Our book is the only one regarding which he does not record the technical name (Bemidbar).]

² Sometimes the fuller "בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי" is used as well.

³ See, for example, R. Saadia Bereshit 6:3, Rashi Shemot 38:26, and Ibn Ezra's introduction to the book, who all refer to it in this manner. The name "ספר וידבר" is less popular than "ספר במדבר" perhaps because the ךשאאקר captures some of the cםntent of the book as well. Technical issues might also play a role. The word "וידבר" is not unique to the opening of this book and is found also in the opening verse of Sefer Vayikra, which leaves room for potential confusion. [See, for example, Ibn Ezra on Vayikra 27:1 who refers also to Sefer Vayikra as "ספר וידבר".]